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Department might be tempted to overlook if the income accruing to them from the sale of opium were abundant. As British subjects may not own land in Persia
it would appear to me that we are chiefly concerned
with the sale and exportation of the finished article.
The latest published trade statistics (for the
Persian year ending March 20th 1912) show that
£223,574 worth of opium was exported to the British
Empire in that year, other countries taking as fol-
lows:-
China.
Russia.
Turkey....
.£137,365
51,600
28,056
Holland...
6,000
Egypt..
1,800
1,620
Belgium.
We are also interested, in a lesser degree, in
the importation of opium into Persia: in the sume
period £8,780 worth was imported of which £8,709 worth
entered from Afghanistan alone, a very small amount
entering from Russia.
It is difficult to gauge the extent of the con-
nection of British firms in Northern Persia with the
trade but presumably the connection of such
important firms as Messrs. Lynch and Ziegler is con-
fined to the carriage alone of opium. These new
Regulations would therefore affect them but a little.
It is however impossible for me to say to
what extent British Indian subjects in Southern
and Eastern Persia are interested in the trude and
how British Indian proprietors of shops and coffee
houses may be adversely affected.
Article 22 gives Treasury Officials the right
to make domiciliary visits: His Majesty's Govern-
ment would not, I presume, feel disposed to allow
such visits except under very stringent guarantees,
such for example as a Consular authority prior to
each visit.
The special tax will also affect British Indian
subjects but His Majesty's Government might be
prepared to sanction this with a view to assisting
the Persian Government in their endeavour to
regulate this dangerous traffic.
The above points probably affect all the South
Persian
trade
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